The Eye of Neptune (8 page)

‘But their crowning glory, their true blessing, was their seven sons. Each was handsome, each was clever and each had a particular skill. One was a great soldier, another could coax animals from the trees, while another built inventions that would baffle dukes and ladies across the land with their ingenuity and craft. These boys were always competing with each other to see who could ride the fastest, jump the highest, drink the most, sing the loudest. They were so full of life.

‘Sad to say, nothing lasts for ever, be it good or bad, and such was the case for the count and countess. All seven sons fell in love. With the same woman. Her name was Celina, a wondrous beauty; her hair was like spun gold and her lips like roses. When she sang, it put the nightingale to shame.

‘As beauteous as Celina was, she could never marry one of the count’s sons. Her father was a simple woodcutter, a peasant. But the boys would bring her gifts every day, sing her songs every day, write poems in honour of her great beauty every day. She didn’t know what to do.

‘ “Set each boy a task,” her father said. “Make them travel. The experience will do them good and when they have seen more of the world they will no longer think of you.”

‘Celina wasn’t so sure about this – she quite liked the attentions of the handsome young men – but if the count found out that his sons were courting a commoner he would be furious, and who knew what he would do?

‘So Celina sent them abroad, and such adventures they had and such sights they saw. But they never forgot her. Each carried a miniature portrait of her in his breast pocket, next to his heart, and after twelve long months the boys returned.

‘To horror.

‘Their castle lay in ruins, the vineyards burned to the scorched earth, their mother and father cruelly slain. And of Celina there was no trace.

‘For, while they had been travelling, the tsar’s troops had swept across the land in the name of Holy Russia. Any who stood in their path felt the edge of their sword, the rough hemp rope or the heat of flame.

‘Grief does strange things to a man, and as the seven brothers stood there they made a vow to avenge their father, their mother and the lovely Celina.

‘They became bitter, hard and as cold as steel. As the years flew by, they drowned their grief in an orgy of bloodshed and violence. People learned to fear the name of the Brothers Oginski.’

For a moment, silence hung over the dingy hold as each listener took from the story what they could.

‘A fairytale,’ Dakkar said, snorting. ‘The Oginski I know is a man of science, and a gentleman.’

‘Who knows what past wickedness men hide,’ One-eye sniggered. ‘At least we’re honest rogues.’ He leaned back against the wall of the hold. ‘What you see is what you get.’

The days rolled into weeks and the pirates were set to work on the
Palaemon
under the watchful eye of Blizzard’s marines. Dakkar found himself scrubbing decks and helping Finch prepare food in the galley.

Every day left Dakkar with a gnawing anxiety. Questions built up in his mind.
Who were the strange men at the castle that day? What did they want with Oginski?
Every mile they sailed was taking him further away from any chance of rescuing Oginski. Blizzard questioned him further but Dakkar kept silent and refused to answer.

‘So what did you call this undersea ship that Oginski and Fulton created?’ Blizzard asked matter-of-factly, as if he were asking Dakkar what he’d had for dinner.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir,’ Dakkar said, and continued with his polishing work. ‘It sounds a bit fanciful, if you’ll pardon me for saying.’

‘Fanciful,’ Blizzard mused. ‘Yes, I suppose it does, but then everything about you is a bit far-fetched, Prince Dakkar. Did you know, for instance, that your father has offered a reward for your recovery?’

Dakkar stiffened and he looked up at Blizzard. ‘My father?’ he said. ‘He must have heard about what happened at the castle.’

‘No,’ Blizzard replied, turning to walk away. ‘This reward was offered three or four years ago.’

‘What?’ Dakkar said, leaping to his feet, but Blizzard sauntered away and Finch glared at Dakkar until he sat down to his polishing again.

Night-times on the HMS
Palaemon
were a torment of snoring pirates, the uncomfortable hold floor and whirling thoughts.
Dakkar dismissed the pirate’s story as just that.
There’s bound to be more than one Oginski in the world
. But now a new question pressed in on Dakkar:
why did Father offer a reward?

For a few days, the weather turned against them. Dakkar lay prostrate in the hold as the
Palaemon
rose and fell, making his stomach heave. He couldn’t move or eat. When he did go outside, the sea lashed the deck and the horizon pitched up and down. Dakkar imagined being trapped in the
Makara
on the mountainous waves that surrounded them and shuddered. All the time he wondered how he would get off the ship and find Oginski.

‘Fulton’s the key,’ Blizzard said one day, making Dakkar jump as he scrubbed at the decking with a stiff brush. ‘If you want to find Oginski, I mean.’

The weather had calmed and, although the sky hung sullen and grey, the winds had dropped.

‘With respect, sir,’ Dakkar said, looking at his feet, ‘Oginski barely knew Mr Fulton.’

‘Whatever you say,’ Blizzard sighed, clamping his hands behind his back. ‘Once we’ve destroyed this steam battery of Fulton’s, we’ll be returning to England and then it’s the gallows for you, boy.’

‘You won’t be claiming the reward my father is said to have offered?’ Dakkar asked, looking up at Blizzard.

The commander laughed. ‘If a court finds you guilty of piracy – and you
were
caught in the company of pirates – then, prince or no, you will hang. I have no interest in money or wealth. I live only to serve my country.’

And you’re well paid for it into the bargain
, Dakkar thought, eyeing Blizzard’s fine coat and breeches.

‘And why exactly did my father offer such a reward?’ Dakkar said, unable to keep the contempt from leeching into his voice.

‘Why, because you vanished, young man,’ Blizzard said with a short laugh. ‘Presumed kidnapped. But no ransom was demanded – some thought you dead.’

A scream cut Dakkar’s next question short. He turned and stared in horror at the thing that was crawling on to the ship.

Chapter Nine

The Creature from the Depths

A huge red tentacle gripped a sailor and whisked him from the deck. Dakkar caught the look of horror in his staring eyes as he vanished, dragged over the side and into the sea. Water rained down on the deck as more tentacles squirmed their way across the deck or through the rigging. Men’s shouts of anger or terror mingled with the odd gunshot.

Dakkar hurried over to the railings and saw a giant eye staring up from the sea, the huge bulk of the body tapering off into the depths.

‘A giant squid,’ he gasped. ‘I saw one off the coast the day before –’

‘Quickly, Dakkar – down below,’ Blizzard yelled. He took a step forward but a tentacle reached up over the side and curled round his leg.

Blizzard gave a howl as the fabric of his breeches tore under its grip. Dakkar could see the serrated suckers on the tentacle drawing blood.

Snatching up an axe, Dakkar leapt forward and hacked into the rubbery flesh of the squid. The creature quivered but continued to drag Blizzard along the deck to the side of the ship. Dakkar hacked and hacked again. Another tentacle swooped down, swatting at Dakkar. He dodged to one side, feeling the thick arm swish just above his head. With a yell, he brought the axe down on the creature’s twitching limb. The axe struck through flesh and bit into the hard deck, numbing Dakkar’s arm with the impact. Blizzard collapsed, gripping his injured leg as the severed tentacle writhed and twisted close by.

More tentacles squirmed towards Dakkar, tipping a rowing boat over and spilling its contents on to the deck. Dakkar snatched up a long boat hook that rolled to his feet and he stabbed it at the flailing arms.

Finch swirled past, bellowing obscenities from the end of a snaking squid arm. Dakkar hurled the boat hook and smiled with grim satisfaction as it pierced the arm. Finch gave a strangled cry and plummeted on to the deck with a thud.

The crew had rallied now and Blizzard’s marines in their red coats hurried forward, firing musket shot after musket shot until the squid blew a fountain of black ink into the air and slid back into the water.

Dakkar scurried across the slimy deck to where Blizzard lay. His leg looked torn and bloodied but he managed a grin at Dakkar.

‘Thank you,’ he panted. ‘I think you just saved my life.’

For some time, the crew stumbled around in mute wonder, uncertain of what they had just experienced. They took Blizzard to his cabin and went through the motions of clearing up and counting the dead. The shocked silence that followed the attack hung over them like a storm cloud.

‘It’s a curse,’ Slater whispered, pointing a bony finger at Dakkar. ‘It’s that boy. He’s brought bad luck on us!’

The sailors gathered around him, murmuring their disquiet. Dakkar’s heart pounded. He looked from one angry face to the next.

‘He just appeared from the sea,’ one of the pirates called from the back of the crowd. ‘He wasn’t with us.’

‘Funny how
he
managed to fight the beast off,’ Slater hissed. ‘But it was throwin’ the rest of us around the ship like a shark playin’ with seal pups!’

‘Leave him be, Slater,’ Finch said, stepping forward. ‘The boy saved my life. I’d have been squid fodder if it weren’t for him.’

‘No, I reckon he’s brought bad luck on us all,’ Slater snarled, bringing his face close to Finch’s. ‘Throw him overboard, I say!’

‘You’ll have to get past me first!’ Finch growled back. ‘This boy is a hero – you should be thankin’ him!’

Finch squared his shoulders and stared into Slater’s eyes. Dakkar watched the two men glaring at each other. Finch was a big man but Slater looked wiry and fast.

A gunshot broke the tension and made everyone turn. Blizzard leaned against the door to his cabin, a pistol in his hand. A white bandage swathed his leg and he looked pale and feverish.

‘The boy is under my protection,’ he gasped. ‘Slater, unless you want flogging, I suggest you refrain from stirring up trouble.’

‘But, sir, I was only suggestin’ –’ Slater began.

‘One more word out of you, man, and I’ll have you clapped in irons,’ Blizzard snapped, wincing a little. ‘Now, everyone back to their duties. This ship doesn’t sail herself. Finch, sort a hammock out for Dakkar down below – he’s no longer a prisoner.’

‘Aye, sir,’ Finch said, grinning and winking at Dakkar. He leaned down and whispered, ‘Don’t worry, lad. I’ll stay close by you.’

The following morning, Dakkar found Blizzard limping along the quarterdeck. He had a stick and, although he looked pale, he seemed in better spirits.

‘Dakkar,’ he said, patting him on the shoulder, ‘you fought that beast off valiantly yesterday.’

‘I didn’t feel very valiant,’ Dakkar said, blushing. ‘My father taught me how to fight with a lance, though I usually practised on horseback. Where did the giant squid come from? And why did it attack?’

‘Who knows?’ Blizzard shrugged. ‘It’s very strange to encounter such a beast this far north.’

‘You’ve seen them before?’ Dakkar asked, his eyes widening.

‘Yes, but never that big,’ Blizzard said, nodding. He grew more serious. ‘And it
is
strange that it just popped out of the ocean and attacked us. Of course if I knew half of what was going on, maybe I could make some sense of it.’ He gave Dakkar a wry look and Dakkar glanced away to the horizon.

‘I have to find Oginski,’ Dakkar murmured.

‘We’re nearing our destination,’ Blizzard said, shifting his position a little and suppressing a wince. ‘I know you maintain that Oginski and Fulton aren’t in contact, but if they were then I’d say that he might be worth a visit. I know roughly where Fulton’s home is. I could take a slight detour and my men could put you ashore. You’d be on your own though, and the Americans don’t take kindly to spies.’

‘You’d do that for me?’ Dakkar said, wondering at Blizzard’s sudden change of heart.

‘I owe you my life, Dakkar,’ Blizzard said, looking solemn. ‘I’m a man of honour and I see my debts paid.’

‘Then you could tell me more about this alleged reward that my father offered,’ Dakkar said, suddenly feeling bold.

‘All I know is what I told you yesterday,’ Blizzard said, shrugging. ‘Four years ago, you went missing. Your father offered a reward.’

‘But Father sent me to Oginski,’ Dakkar insisted. ‘He was to be my mentor.’

‘It does seem strange,’ Blizzard said, raising his eye-brows. ‘A father offers a reward for his missing son, when all along he knows he’s safe. What did your father say in his letters?’

‘Letters?’ Dakkar repeated. ‘I didn’t get any. He wanted my location to be a secret from his enemies and so made no contact.’